World Indoor Championships: Team Canada distance preview

We are one day away from the start of the 2024 World Indoor Championships in Glasgow. Fourteen athletes will represent Team Canada across six action-packed sessions over three days of intense competition, with many of the best athletes in the world competing for the title of world champion.

Here is a brief event preview of the distance events: 800m, 1,500m and 3,000m races at the 2024 World Indoor Championships.

Women’s 800m

The women’s 800m is one of three middle-distance events, with two Canadian athletes. Madeleine Kelly has gotten faster in each of her races this year, her most recent being 2:00.93. Her indoor PB of 2:00.11 dates to 2022, which saw her qualify for her first World Indoor Championships, held in Belgrade, Serbia. Kelly will be joined by Jazz Shukla, who has raced twice over the distance so far this season. Her fastest time, 2:01.34, came at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston earlier this month. That track is also home to her indoor PB of 2:01.00, set last year.

It will be a World Indoor Championship debut for Shukla, who, like Kelly, competed at the World Championships in Budapest last summer. It was a competition to remember for Shukla, who improved her PB in the heats (2:00.30) and again in the semi-final (2:00.23). 

Five athletes entered have run inside two minutes this season, while eight have indoor PBs under that mark. The two fastest athletes this season, Ethiopian Habitam Alemu and Great Britain’s Jemma Reekie, will compete here; the former is making her World Indoor debut and the Scot will be looking for success in her home country. Halimah Nakaayi, the 2019 World Champion from Uganda, is also entered.

Heats: Friday, March 1–6:40 a.m. ET

Semi-finals: Saturday, March 2–7:10 a.m. ET

Final: Sunday, March 3–4:20 p.m. ET

Women’s 1,500m

Lucia Stafford returns for her second World Indoor Championships and will be joined by Simone Plourde in the 1,500m. Stafford has raced a few times so far this year, including at the NB Indoor Grand Prix and Millrose Games. Her fastest time of the season (4:06.80) came at the latter, a mid-race split during the mile race. She finished eighth in the 1,500m final in Belgrade two years ago. 

Like Stafford, Plourde’s only 1,500m time for the year came in the mile at the Millrose Games; her 4:06.98 was an indoor PB. Plourde joined Stafford in Budapest last year, and this will be her first World Indoor Championships. 

With Freweyni Hailu having a wild card as the winner of the World Indoor Tour, there will be three Ethiopian athletes competing in Glasgow, and there is a fair chance they may complete the podium. They are the only athletes to have run inside four minutes this year, and are almost five seconds faster than anyone else in the field. All three have improved their PBs this year; Hailu to 3:55.28, Diribe Welteji to 3:55.47 and Birke Haylom to 3:58.43.

Heats: Friday, March 1–2:05 p.m. ET

Final: Sunday, March 3–4:45 p.m. ET

Women’s 3,000m 

There are no Canadians in the women’s 3,000m, but an exciting race is near-guaranteed. Great Britain’s Laura Muir will be looking for success on her home track, where she won the 3,000m and 1,500m at the European Indoor Championships in 2019. She won the two-mile at the Millrose Games and split 8:31.45 for 3,000m in that race.

The favourite is likely Gudaf Tsegay. The Ethiopian clocked 8:17.11 to just miss the world record at the NB Indoor Grand Prix in Boston, although this was not as close as her 8:16.69 mark from Birmingham last year–just a tenth of a second shy of the WR. 

Jessica Hull of Australia and American Elle St. Pierre have raced each other at both the NB Indoor Grand Prix and Millrose Games, the former winning in Boston and the latter in New York. Hull’s 8:24.93 in Boston was an Oceanic record, with St. Pierre just behind in 8:25.25. Young Ethiopian Melknat Wudu (8:32.02) may also be one to watch. 

Final: Saturday, March 2–3:15 p.m. ET

Men’s 800m

The men’s 800m is possibly the most open of the middle-distance events in Glasgow, with world champion Marco Arop sitting out. Reigning world indoor champion Mariano Garcia of Spain returns to defend his title, as do the silver and bronze medallists Noah Kibet of Kenya and American Bryce Hoppel.

The world lead is held by Catalin Tecuceanu at 1:45.00, which the Italian set at the World Indoor Tour final in Madrid last Friday (a new Italian record.) Other notable performances this season have come from Belgian Elliot Crestan (1:45.10), Abdelati El Guesse (1:45.28) and Mohamed Ali Gouaned (1:45.35). No Canadians will compete over four laps indoors with Arop choosing to sit out till the outdoor season after his record-setting performance at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. 

Heats: Friday March 1–7:22 a.m. ET

Semi-Finals: Saturday, March 2–7:30 a.m. ET

Final: Sunday, March 3–4:10 p.m. ET 

Men’s 1,500m

Both Charles Philibert-Thiboutot and Kieran Lumb will line up for the men’s 1,500m. Philibert-Thiboutot has improved his indoor PB to 3:36.53 this year, while Lumb–holder of the Canadian indoor 3,000m record–ran 3:37.75 at the NB Indoor Grand Prix at the start of the month. That is less than a second shy of his indoor PB. 

Leading the entries are former World Indoor Record holder Samuel Tefera of Ethiopia (who has run 3:34.61 this year), Hobbs Kessler (who beat Jake Wightman at the NB Indoor Grand Prix with 3:33.66), and Portugal’s Isaac Nader (3:34.23). 

Narve Gilje Nordås of Norway, who won bronze at last year’s World Championships in Budapest, is likely to improve on his only 1,500m of the year (3:37.45). He raced a 3,000m in Madrid last week and was not far from Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s national record. 

The hosts are represented by Adam Fogg, who ran 3:49 at the Millrose Games Wanamaker Mile, and World Road Running Championship silver medallist in the road mile, Callum Elson.

Heats: Friday, March 1–3:10 p.m. ET

Final: Sunday, March 3–4:30 p.m. ET

Men’s 3,000m

Much like the women’s race of the same distance, there will be no Canadian representation, but the race presents an exciting prospect. The world 1,500m champion, Josh Kerr, who set the world indoor best for two miles at the 2024 Millrose Games in mid-February, will be in the field. His 7:30.14 3,000m split in New York was a British national record. 

Like Kerr, American Yared Nuguse is stepping up from his usual distance (1,500m); he has run 7:55.76 this year, but he has a PB of 7:28.24. World indoor record holder Lamecha Girma is a notable absence. Instead, Ethiopia will be represented by Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega (7:25.82 PB set this year), Getnet Wale (7:24.98 PB, 7:26.73 this year) and Telahun Haile Bekele (7:37.96 PB).

Jakob Ingebrigtsen is absent from the 2024 World Indoor Championships as he is recovering from an Achilles injury.

Final: Saturday, March 2–3:40 p.m. ET

You can stream the 2024 World Indoor Championships from Canada live on CBCSports and CBC, and the CBC Gem app. Canadian Running will be reporting live from Glasgow and featuring interviews with athletes as everything unfolds. You can follow our coverage on Instagram or Twitter.